Waltham News Tribune’s public records request denied

Wednesday

Jan 22, 2014 at 3:27 PMJan 22, 2014 at 3:52 PM

By Eli Shermanesherman@wickedlocal.com

The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office has denied a public records request that sought to reveal more details from an independent review into the office’s handling of the Jared Remy assault case that preceded the murder of Jennifer Martel in Waltham.The request, filed by the News Tribune under the Massachusetts Public Records Law, asked the DA’s office to provide a complete copy of an independent review conducted on its office, as it related to the release of Remy – son of famed Boston Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy – at his Aug. 14, 2013, arraignment in Waltham District Court.Assistant District Attorney Kerry Anne Kilcoyne, who reviews all public records requests, informed the News Tribune Monday that the inquiry filed on Jan. 8 was denied.Pulling language from the Massachusetts Public Records Law exemptions, Kilcoyne wrote that the report contained information that "directly relates to an active and open criminal case." She added that disclosure of the records would be "presumptively prejudicial to effective law enforcement and prosecution and may reveal the Commonwealth’s case prior to trial."Remy, 34, was arrested and charged on Aug. 13 with assaulting Martel, his girlfriend. The following morning, Remy was released without bail on his own recognizance, but he was arrested again the next night and charged with murdering Martel.After the murder, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan came under heavy political fire, and state Rep. Jim Lyons, R-Andover, called for her resignation.Lyons called the decision to release Remy a "total lack of competence," and was resolute that Martel had "reached out to the system and the system totally failed her." Remy has a history of violence, with 15 prior criminal charges since 1998, according to court documents.Following the political hay, denounced by her office, Ryan announced she would commission an independent review of Remy’s arraignment, which was conducted by Norfolk First Assistant District Attorney Jeanmarie Carroll and former Essex District Attorney Kevin M. Burke. The report was released to the public on Dec. 3, 2013, as a four-paragraph executive summary.The report cited weakness in the DA’s supervision of domestic violence cases at the pre-arraignment stage. Ryan said in a press conference that she is responsible for all the cases that come through her office but also shifted much of the blame to her assistant district attorney who took the Remy case."He made a calculus that led to a decision that was not the best," Ryan said in the press conference. " … He just did not give sufficient weight to the criminal record."The assistant district attorney is still employed at the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, according to a DA spokeswoman.Kilcoyne further wrote that the request was denied because of information relating "solely to internal personnel rules and practices" of the DA’s office and that "proper performance of necessary government functions will be inhibited by disclosure; and personnel information which is useful in making employment decisions," citing exemptions (a), (b) and (c) of the Massachusetts Public Records Law.Since the murder, the DA’s office has taken measures to "improve its handling of these cases, including reinforcing its responses and communications between [staff] and victims from intake to arraignment to referral to disposition," according to the independent review.The News Tribune sent a similar request to Carroll, the Norfolk first assistant district attorney, but all inquiries were referred to Ryan, who is the custodian of the record.